Description

1888-89 N173 Old Judge Cabinet Capt. Anson SGC 60 EX 5. He's
been called the first star of our national pastime, a distinction
quite clearly earned by a man who secured the first key to the
3,000 Hit Clubhouse, less than a decade after the presented relic
was produced. This elegant studio image finds him at the height of
his unparalleled 19th century greatness, as his .344 batting
average and eighty-four runs batted in set the National League
standard in 1888. Anson served as both first baseman and manager of
the Chicago White Stockings for both years that Old Judge produced
these rare and highly coveted cabinets, chasing but never quite
catching the power-packed New York Giants franchise that dominated
the game at the time.

While the outsized dimensions of the N173 cabinet are more than
enough reason to fall in love, the extreme rarity of such ancient
relics is arguably the primary factor in the gaping divide between
supply and demand. Like the 1933 Nap Lajoie of the 1933 Goudey
issue, the N173 Old Judge was only distributed through the
mail--never in retail stores--and thus made available only to the
most fervent and intrepid of period collectors. The passage of
nearly thirteen decades has whittled down that original population
to near extinction.

In fact, only eighteen Cap Anson representations have ever found a
home within an SGC slab, with only two others matching the
impressive SGC 60 EX 5 standard met here. None have ever
graded higher. The chipping and creasing endemic to this issue is
absent here, with just the slightest hints of age toning suggesting
the cabinet's advanced age.